Knitting machine for the manufacture of tubular yarns



April -28, 1936.

W. NElNlNGER KNITTING MACHINE FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF TUBULAR YARNS Filed Dec. 2s, 1935 Patented Apr. 28, 1936 IUNiTiiD STATES yPATENT QFFICE KNITTING MACHINE FOR THE MANUFAC- TURE OF TUBULAB YARNS `Application December 23, 1933, Serial No. 703,732

In Germany December 23, 1932 s claims. (ci. iss-139i My inrentiomrelates to a knitting machine for the manufacture of tubular yarns, particularly of fancy yarns. Such fancy yarns are made of individual threads of different olors by knitting more or less long loops. In this manner a knitted thread results which alternately presents long loops of differentJ colors so that such a thread makes the impression as if it were composed-ofl individual pieces of thread of different color. It has hitherto only been possible to manufacture such threads by using particular cam rings' for operating the knitting needles which have severailhigh and low points, the num- 'per of high points corresponding to the number of alternatlons in color. i

According to the present invention this effect may be attained in a simpler manner by moving during the knitting operation the thread guides towards or away from the knitting needles. The individual thread guides which guidethreads oi' diierent colors`are s o operated one after the other that the threads are alternately supplied in a predetermined manner to the knitting needles in accordance with the shape of the cam rings for the thread guides. In this manner only one thread at a time is supplied to the knitting needles, whereas the other threads do closed for which the present invention is particularly employed, and on which it isan improvement. Y

The thread guides may he designed to operate g in their own bed in the same manner as the knitting needles operate in their needle bed, and

. be operated in this may be actuated by cam ringacams or the like. They may be divided into two or morelgroups and be operated-in groups. Two thread guides or also any greater number of thread guides may anner. The cam rings may be concentrically arranged within one another, in order to obtain a short length of the thread guide head. This is of particular advantage, ii' more than two cam rings are employed for operating the thread guides. The outer cam ring is preferably designed as support for the innerl cam ring. Furthermore, it is necessary for the adjustment of the thread guides with relation to the needles and -to one another to anange the guide cylinder on the thread guide holder in such a manner that ythe vguides become adjustable in the axial direction as well as peripherally. The thread guide head which contains the vcam rings is rotated by means of a gear associated with said head, the gear being driven from any convenient point oi the machine. In such an arrangement the thread. guide holder is stationary. In machines with revolving bobbins the thread guides must also rotate together with the latter. Also the thread guide head casing and the thread guide holders may be caused to rotate in the same Aor the opposite direction, i. e., yat the same speed as the knitting needles or at a different speed. By 'varying the speed various effects may be obtained since this variation in speed changes the sequence of the threads suppli'ed to a needle.

In the accompanying drawing an embodiment of my invention is illustrated in diagrammatic form.

Fig. 1 represents an elevation, partly in section of the thread guide head and an elevational view of the needle cylinder, andr Fig. 2 shows a development of the cam rings for operating the thread guide bars.

At the outset it may be stated that the thread guide mechanisml shown in the upper portion of Fig. 1 and forming the subject matter of the present invention is mounted in the machine frame (not shown) in vertical ainal alinement with the knitting head 20, which latter is shown only in its general outline and -in part, and which may be of the construction disclosed in the aforementioned patents, for producing a tubular knitting, also shown and described in said patents,\and in particular a knitting with interlocked loopswhich does not unravel. It is moreover assumed in the present example` that the needle bed in head 20 rotates.

Further, while in Fig. 1 only two needles are shown, thisdoes not mean that the device is limited to two needles and also to two thread guides 6, 6, the needle grooves 23 in needle bed 2|-which rotates in this particular case-indieating that many more than two needles are provided for, depending upon the diameter of the knitting to be produced. Twoneedles and two thread guides only are shown ior clearness sake and they are meant to be representative at the same time of a plurality oi.' groups of guidesV and needles. It is also assumed that there are as many stitch' cams or knitting points arranged in the device as there are thread guides in a group.

With this understanding in mind, the construction is as follows:

I denotes the thread guide holder which may be secured in any suitable portion of the machine frame (not shown). It carries a cylinder 2 for the thread guide bars 4, which carry the thread guides I5, Iia at their lower ends as shown. The cylinder 2 has axially directed openings at its lower end, through which the thread guide bars 4 pass to the outside. 3 is a conical nut which is threaded onto the upper end of the cylinder 2 also conically threadedand which is besides radially split lin a number of places as shown at 3a, so that the cylinder is firmly locked against the thread guide holder I when the split elastic upper parts of the cylinder 2 are clamped against it by nut 3. After loosening the nut, it is thus possible to adjust the entire thread guide head in the axial direction and, consequently,

all thread guides vertically with relation to the needles, so that vwhen a guide tip 6 is in its lowermost position as shown in full lines, its guided thread 24 is within operative reach of a v needle 22 which may then be in uppermost position as shown, and when a guide Iia is in its uppermost position as shown in dotted lines, its guided thread 25 is out of reach of a needle 22,

when the latter is in its uppermost position in which it can engage a thread on its descent. At the same time the thread guide head may be adjusted circumferentially about the axis of the thread guide holder I so that all thread guides may be adjusted at the periphery in relation to the incidental operating positions of the needles. 5 denotes a ball bearing which serves to support the head casing I I on cylinder 2. The head casing II carries the cam rings consisting of the parts 1 to I0. The outer cam ring 9 carries the inner, circumferentially divided Ycam ring consisting of the parts 'Iv and 8 which by their-complementary contours form the cam groove' of that ring as shown in Fig.l 2. The thread guides are divided into two groups I and II, and as mentioned at thebeginning, for clearness sake only two guides Bare shown as representative for guide group I, and two guides 6a, representative for group II. It is quite obvious to any skilled person without further illustration, that as many thread guides and their bars may be provided in the guide head as are required and as can operatively be accommodated on its circumference. The guide bars 4 of group I are provided withheels B moving in the groove of the lower cam ring and the bars ofthe other group IIare provided with heels 9a moving in the groove of the upper cam ring. In Fig. 1 the guide bars of the two groups appear behind one another and only the heel Ila representative of group II is visible. Thehead casing II is associated With a spur gear I2 which is keyed to casing II,and which cooperates wit1^ the spur wheel I3. The gear I2 has great axial lengthY in order that the gear I3 may cooperate with the gear I2 within a wide range of axially adjusted positions of the thread guide head previously described without it beingnecessary to adjust the gear I2 upon head II.- The thread guide head casing may be driven through gear` I3 by the main drive of the knitting machine inany of the many well-known manners, and this obvious detail has therefore been omitted infthe drawing.

In case the individual parts of the thread guide head should be separately driven, i. e. if both the thread guide head casing and the cylinder 2 should be driven, the thread guide head is then No. 2,016,870 above 4referred to. .Since the drives for the above purpose may be of the type shown and described in aforesaid patent, the detail description and illustration thereof is not deemed necessary in the present case.

I claim as my invention: 1

l. In-a knitting machine for knitting threads or tubular strands with interlocked loops in combination a. knitting head having a needle bed with needles operating in the direction of the bed axis, and a thread guide head coaxially mounted with said needle bed and containing a plurality of thread guides, likewise movable in the direction of said bed axis and a plurality of cam cylinders engaging saidguides and being suitably operated in relation to the operation of the needles for operating said thread guides toward and away from the'needles, to move the threads controlled by the guides into and out of engageable position -with said needles, said thread guides being divided into a plurality of groups, each of said groups being operatively connected to the cam surfaces of one of said cam cylinders.

2. In a knitting machine for knitting threads or tubular strands with interlocked loops in combination a knitting head having a needle bed with needles operating in the direction of the bed axis, and a thread guide head coaxially mounted with said needle bed and containing a plurality of thread guides, likewise movable in thedirection of said bed axis and a plurality of cam cylinders engaging said guides and being suitably operated in relation to the operation of the needles for operating said thread guides toward and away from the needles, to move the threads controlled by the guides into and out of engageable position with said needles, said thread guides being divided into a plurality of groups, each of said groups being operatively connected to the cam surfaces of one of said cam cylinders, said cam cylinders lbeing disposed one Within vthe other,` the outer cylinder serving as a support for the inner cylinder.

3. In a knitting machine for knitting threads or tubular strands with interlocked loops in combination ajknitting head having a needle bed with needles operating in the direction of the bed` axis, and av thread guide head coaxially mounted with said needle bed and containing a plurality. of thread guides, likewise movable in the direction of said bed axis and a plurality' 'of cam cylinders engaging said guides and being suitably operated -in relation to the operation of the needles for operating said thread guides toward and away from the needles, to move the threads controlled by the guides into and'out of engageable position with said needles, said thread guides being divided into a plurality of groups, each of said groups being operatively connected to the cam surfaces of one of said cam cylinders, the cam surfaces of said cam cylinders being arranged one above the other in the direction of the needle bed axis.

4. In a knitting machine for knitting threads or tubular strands with interlocked loops in combination a knitting head having a needle bed with with'needles operating in the direction of the bed axis, and a thread guide head coaxially mounted with said needle bed and containing a plurality of thread guides, likewise movable in the direction of said bed axis and a plurality of cam cylinders one disposed within the other and engaging said guides, means for operating said cylinders in a suitable direction and at suitable speed with relation to the operation of said needles for operating said thread guides toward and away from the needles to move the threads controlled by the guides into and out of engageable position with said needles, said thread guides being divided into a plurality of groups, each group being operatively connected to the cam surface of one of said cam cylinders, said cam cylinders being disposed one within the other, the outer cylinder serving as a support for the inner cylinder.

5. In a knitting machine for knitting threads or tubular strands with interlocked loops in combination a knitting head having a needle bed with needles operating in the directionof the bed axis, and a thread guide head coaxially mounted with said needle bed and containing a plurality of thread guides. likewise movable in the direction of said bed axis and at least one cam suitably operated in relation to the operation of the needles for operating said thread guides toward and away from the needles, to move the threads controlled by the guides into and out of engageable position with said needles, said thread guide head being composed of a guide cylinder serving as a guide for the thread guides, a head casing surrounding and journalled on said cylinder and containing said thread guide cam, means for producing relative rotation between said casing and said cylinder, and means for centrally supporting said guide cylinder.

WILHELM NEININGER. 

